Cigarette ash tray



July 22, 1952 v TERRY 2,604,100

CIGARETTE ASH TRAY Filed Aug. 50, 1949 FIG.2

Frank L Terry IN VEN TOR.

BY 9 d ATTORNEY Patented July 22, 1952 "YUNITED STATE CIGARETTE ASH TRAYv Frank V. Terry, El Cerrito, Calif. Application August 30,1949,-Se'rialNo. 113,169 d 1 Claim.

It is the principal object of this invention to provide an ash traywhich embodies the following features of advantage:' first, insuranceagainst the cigarette falling-off the tray due to burning. away of thecigarette after depositon the'tray bythe smoker; second, a cigarettewhich has burned very little may be lodged on the ash tray in oneof two,waysso that it will either (a) burn for a long period of time beforebeing automatical'lyextinguished, or (b)- -burn for a. short p'erl'odoftime before being automatically extinguished; third all cigarettesplaced on the tray will be automatically extinguished before they canburn completely, the unburned portion being positively gripped in .aregion displaced a substantial distance from the point of extinguishmentof the cigarette so that the gripping function is not impaired by theburning; fourth, many cigarettes may be placed securely on the traywithout contacting each other; 'fifth, cigarettes burn for long periodsof time with the burning occurring in free space, thereby avoidingdisagreeable tastes commonly experienced in smoking a cigarette after ithas burned while in contact with a solid body; sixth, the ashes from theburning cigarette fall into a cavity from which they cannot readilyescape or be blown; seventh, the tray provides simple means by which alarge number of cigarettes may be positively and immediately snuffedout; eighth, the tray provides means by which the smoker may readilyidentify his own cigarette among all others; and ninth, provision ismade so that the mouth-piece ends of the cigarettes may be placed toremain at maximum distances in free space away from the tray itself soas to avoid the possibility of transmission of infections from onesmoker to the other through contact of the cigarettes with each other orwith the tray itself.

With these objects in view, reference is made to the followingspecification and accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of my cigarette tray and ash receptacle;

Fig. 2 is an elevational view thereof, partly in section;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view taken at the curve 33 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary section, as at plane 4-4 of Fig. 1.

The tray and receptacle comprise a ring shaped top portion and acup-like bottom portion I2, having respectively, frustro-conical skirtl4 and side wall l6 separably united as by threaded interfitting partsat l8. The top portion It! has anannular flange 20 extending radiallyinwardly terminating in and surrounding a round hole .22 .over a space24 formed by portios I0 and I2.

The flange 20 is inclined somewhat upwardly and inwardly as shown and atequiangularly spaced points on the top face of flange 20 there areformed straight radial grooves 26, the groove surfaces transverse to thegroove axes being arcuate' and .the arc radius being equal to the radiusof a standard manufactured cigarette so that the cigarette can lie onthe groove with its .paper in :conta'ctwith the entire adjacent surfaceofthe groove, particularly near the inner ends thereof. It will beobserved that the grooves 26 are: deepest in the region at the innerends 28 so as to contact the cigarette paper for about one half of itscircumference. A burning cigarette 30 lying in this groove with itsburning end over space 24 will burn until the burning portions reach theend of groove 26 at 28 whereupon it may be automatically extinguisheddue to heat dissipation. If it is not extinguished at this point it isextinguished upon reaching the gripped portion at 34.

It frequently occurs in the use of ash trays heretofore known thatcigarettes are placed on trays as is cigarette 30 in Fig. l, in whichposition, except for the construction now to be described, it isimpossible for it to remain after a certain amount of burning hasoccurred because it eventually becomes unbalanced and drops from thetray, still burning, and may cause extensive fire damage. This danger Iprevent by providing a positive gripping of the cigarette in a regionremote from the position 28 at which the cigarette must be automaticallyextinguished. This gripping action holds the cigarette in the groove 26while it burns and insures that the cigarette paper remains in contactwith the sides of the groove at 28 in order to effect its extinguishmentat that point.

Th gripping action is provided for the cigarette by spaced apart conicalprojections 32 which are integral with the flange 20 arranged in a ringor circle with their axes on about the mid-circle of the flange, eachprojection being positioned between two grooves 26 and of such basediameter that their near side elements at 34 together form divergentwalls which grip the ing substantially. It will be observed that thepoints of gripping at 34 are substantially removed axially of thecigarette from the point 28 where extinguishment may have been effecteddue to the contacting walls of the groove. Therefore the gripping isunimpaired by the burning.

Each of the projections 32 is provided with a vertically openingsnufilng well 36 into which the burning end of a cigarette may be thrustand left with confidence that its fire will immediately be extinguished.Any number of such projections may be provided but the diameter of thetray will be in proportion to the number of projections in order toprovide space for the cigarette.

The cover portion I0 is preferably formed of Bakelite or other materialwhich does not impart a distasteful flavor to the tobacco when thecigarette is burned to the point 28.

Each groove 26 is preferably identified by an area of a different color.The zones 38, 40, etc. have been hatched to indicate different colors ofthe underlying surface of the cover part 10. These identification marksenable the smoker to identify his own cigarette.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new is:

A cover for a smokers ash receptacle comprising a horizontally disposedflange portion having a downwardly disposed annular skirt having a loweredge adapted to engage the upper edge of said ash receptacle to supportthe cover thereabove, said flange having a centrally located opening anda series of equi-angularly disposed upwardly directed cigarette engagingprojections surrounding the central opening, said projections havingfrusto-conical exterior surfaces whereby adjacent pairs providesubstantially V-shaped notches therebetween, said projections beingseparated by a distance so as to receive and clamp a cigarette whenforced downwardly into one of said notches, each of said projectionshaving a downwardly extending cylindrical well having a closed bottomformed by the flange, each of said wells being of a diameter. to snugly.receive the lit end of a cigaretteand toextinguish the same when placedtherein, and the bottom of each notch being formed with an arcuategroove radially directed and inwardly inclined toward the center of saidcentral opening, said bottom having a radius of curvature so as tosnugly engage a cigarette forced into the bottom of one of said notches.

FRANK V. TERRY.

REFERENCES I CITED The following references are of record inthe file ofthis p'atenti UNITED STATES PATENTS Great Britain Aug. 9, 1939

